A Sparrow's Wings
by sparrowlina
Summary: Lina is finally home...right? After things have taken so many twists and turns, she can finally settle in and continue her life with Loki. New and old problems alike start arise and makes her wonder whether or not she and the Prince of Mischief can really be together. [[SEQUEL TO "A SPARROW'S SONG"]]


**NOTE: I do not own any of the Thor/Avenger characters. Any other characters mentioned are those that I created myself.**

 **Enjoy!**

Chapter 1 –

It was a thrill being able to go back through the Byfrost knowing that this time, she was finally going home. After everything that had happened, from being ripped away from her kingdom to being hidden away on Midgard, Lina felt that it was time to finally settle down and really take an inventory of who she was and where her life was going. Although she was finally together with Loki and Thor once again, there was an empty feeling nagging at her mind, as if something was left unfinished.

Lost in her thoughts, Lina hadn't even noticed they had finally landed back in Asgard and was now being escorted by her soon-to-be husband and brother-in-law back to the main hall where Odin resided.

"Are you alright?" Loki asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Huh?" she replied in a daze. "Oh, I'm fine. Tired is all."

Loki looked down at his fiancé with a questioning look. It was unlike her to hide her feelings so blatantly, but he did need to take recent events into account. After all, he did mistake her sister as his lover and nearly allowed a sorcerer to ruin all nine realms. It was a blunder he did not want to revisit at this time.

Looking at her features more closely, Loki did notice that Lina's demeanor had changed drastically. Prior to her kidnapping, he always noted how full of life she was. Never did he see her face so riddled with the harshness of the dark magic that overtook her kingdom. Stress hadn't impacted her moods and thoughts as much as it did now. He worried that the person Lina had become would be someone he couldn't love—or wouldn't allow him to love.

Continuing on their current path, the trio ascended a large flight of stairs that lead to an open hallway. The bright light of day filtered in through the various archways that lined the stone halls, making the cream colored stone gleam. People were walking back and forth, servants attending to their chores and running errands for their lords and ladies.

Thor had kept his thoughts to himself since they had left Midgard. Not only did he miss out on another opportunity to see his beloved Jane, but he wasn't sure how things were going to unfold in his father's hall. It was one thing to say that the most powerful sorcerer in the world was no longer a problem for the All-Father (that they could tell), but to tell him that a demon was the one who had caused his passing was completely absurd. Not to mention the fact that Thor could easily recognize what the servants were busy preparing for. Another ball was not something he wanted to indulge in so soon.

The three had said no words to each other until they reached the door to the main hall where Odin was waiting for them. Staring at the heavy wood door didn't set their minds at ease. No one wanted to be the first to go in, each of them unsure of what was on the other side. The mere seconds they waited felt like hours.

"Well," Thor began, taking a deep breath in and exhaling loudly. "We're home."

Home.

Lina didn't know what that word meant anymore.

"Yes, home," she repeated. It still sounded dull and empty.

Loki didn't say anything. Instead, he pushed the doors to the hall open. Their creak sounded throughout the room, all eyes now resting on the three who stood at its entrance.

There were more people than Thor realized there would be. Guards lined the wall like toy soldiers lined a store shelf. Frigga stood up with a gleam on her face, excited to see her favorite three people back in Asgard unscathed. Gazing at their faces, though, told her that the emotional trauma had been greater than she expected.

Odin stood up slowly and all eyes returned to him. "Please enter."

Loki took a pause before deciding whether or not to enter the room. He was still upset with how Odin had treated Lina the last time they had come to this hall. Then again, the last time there were there, he and his brother were bound with chains for treason.

Thor was the first to lead the group through the hall. Each set of eyes seemed to follow them like spotlights. He could tell that people were anxious to hear their tale of triumph and tragedy. He wished that someone would at least make some kind of noise or carry on any conversation as they entered. The tension was so thick, he could slice it with a knife.

They lined up in front of the All-Father, Lina in the middle of the two brothers. They bowed accordingly and then Odin sat down, looking down at them with a wary eye. He, too, was unsure of what tale the three would tell him of Fayne. He hoped that the sacrifices weren't as great as they had been when Fayne had attacked prior.

"Leave us," he ordered to the room.

Many faces looked around in confusion and disappointment. Why wouldn't the All-Father want the trio to recount their tale with an audience who could spread their legacy? After all, they did defeat one of the strongest sorcerers who ever lived.

Looking around the room, the lack of movement annoyed the king. "Leave!" he bellowed.

The room emptied faster than water being freed from a dam. The only ones who remained were Frigga, Thor, Lina, Loki, and the All-Father.

He took his time looking over each person who stood before him. Like Frigga, he too noted the deep emotional scars each person carried. He knew that a majority of the ones Loki held were his fault, but never had he seen Lina in such turmoil. She looked as if she had aged 30 years and the brightness in her eyes had faded even more so than when he had told her that her kingdom had been taken over.

"First of all," he began, "I would like to thank each of you for your service to Asgard. It was truly a magnificent quest that you carried out and we are grateful for your services."

Thor nodded his head in acknowledgement while Loki simply stared at Odin with indifference. Lina continued to watch the floor in front of her.

"Would you care to tell me what exactly happened?"

Lina's heart leapt into her throat as she looked up at Odin. What she wanted to tell him versus what actually happened were two completely different series of events. On the one hand, she wanted to tell him that Thor and Loki came bounding in, conquering Fayne and his creatures with no problem at all. She wanted to say that her friend didn't die in her honor and that no bad feelings remained with the three that stood before him. It was a web of lies she did not have the energy nor the will to weave.

"We were accompanied by two others from Midgard on our journey to Fayne's palace…" Thor began, breaking the silence that had followed the All-Father's question.

From there, he and Loki took turns telling the story, filling in whatever details the other had left out. They mentioned how Lina's sister had posed as Lina, turned her back on Fayne, and paid the ultimate price for her betrayal. Then it came time to discuss Fayne's demise.

"Fayne's death…" Loki started, but he looked towards his brother with an unsure gaze.

"What about it?" Odin questioned, looking nervously from one son to the other. "What pure magic were you able to get in order to defeat him?"

Thor sighed, his mind flashing back to Zila's body lying on the ground as Lina wept beside her. "Our other ally had powers greater than both mine and Loki's combined. She defeated Fayne's demon and then killed Fayne herself." Each word that left his mouth was salty and the sentence wasn't fluid as he uttered it. She shouldn't have had to sacrifice herself like that.

Odin leaned back in his chair. "What magic did she possess?"

Thor shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably. "Well…I…"

"She was a demon," Lina whispered softly.

Odin's eyes snapped to the girl in front of him. "She was what?"

"A demon," Lina repeated, her voice barely heard from across the room.

Odin's eyes closed in disbelief as he inhaled through his nose. When they opened and he exhaled out of his mouth, his stare was harsh enough to make Thor cringe slightly. "How can this be possible?" His tone was that of a calm anger. It was more intimidating than if he had yelled at the top of his lungs.

"What part is there not to believe?" Loki questioned, stepping towards his father. "Yes, she was a demon, but she was one of the purest people I've ever known."

"People? How could this demon have become a person in the first place?" Odin demanded.

With that, Loki's strong front had shriveled as he stepped back in line. Thinking back, he wasn't sure if what he and Lina did to create Zila was wrong on any level of the law. To his mind, he couldn't think of anything.

"Loki and I channeled our magic to her in order for her to help us find Fayne," Lina answered.

Odin took in a deep breath and tried to calmly say, "And how were you to know if her alliance really fell with you?"

The trio looked at one another unsure of where Odin was going with his speech. "How were you three to know if she wasn't playing the role of an ally when in reality she was still your enemy?"

"She would never betray us like—"

"But do you know this for a fact?" Odin cut of Lina instantly. He couldn't believe how naïve they could have been to trust a strange creature, and of all creatures: a demon.

"Yes. I do." Her hands were balled up into tight fists, her nails digging into her hands. Her eyes were brighter than ever before, her rage building. "She was one of the noblest people I knew and her sacrifice will not be tarnished with your doubts."

Odin did not reply to her verbal stab. Instead, he stood up, his authority towering over them as if he were a skyscraper. "If Fayne is not truly dead, and this demon betrays you, do not expect any assistance from me."

"Fayne is dead, Father," Thor confirmed, stepping in front of Lina in slight defense. "I confirmed this myself."

Odin met his statement with silence, then stormed out of the room. All that was heard was the echo of the door he exited through as it slammed shut.

Frigga looked from the door to each of the three people that stood before her. Her face was apologetic and understanding of the situation, but she knew she needed to attend to her husband first. She soon followed after him, leaving Thor, Loki, and Lina alone.

"That went better than expected," Loki sarcastically stated, walking over to the steps in front of him and sitting on them as to face Lina and Thor.

Lina plopped down on the floor where she stood, looking up at Loki. "I wish he would just understand…"

"And he will," Thor stated, "one day. But I do understand where he is coming from as well, knowing what he's dealt with in the past."

"If he had just met her," Lina grumbled. "If she had just…survived…"

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+

Steve was running around the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility to get his daily exercise. He couldn't stand being cooped up in that building ever since the three Asgardians had left. A lack of a new world threatening problem was making him think more and more about Zila, and he couldn't stand the idea of having lost another love in his life. The mystery that sat encased in his dog tags had become more and more enigmatic since the day Zila died, which bothered him even more.

As he ran around the facility, Tony stood up in the lab gazing out of the large glass window that faced the front of the property. He was eating an apple and waiting for Bruce to come back from his research assignment. He himself had just come back from a visit with Pepper.

Being in the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility had bored Tony. He too was at a loss now that there weren't any other villains for him to destroy. He had gotten so bored that he had "upgraded" the S.H.I.E.L.D. system four times since Thor and company had left. This caused an uproar from Nick the first time, a threat to be arrested the second time, and then no reaction the third and fourth time due to everyone giving up on containing his technologically advanced hacks.

He wanted to stir up some trouble, though. At least, that was the original intention.

Bruce walked in as Tony was lost in thought. He dropped his bag on their work desk which caused Tony to turn around sharply.

"Anything?" Tony asked expectantly, walking casually towards the doctor as he checked the various screens he strolled past.

"Nothing really," Bruce replied, taking his dark coat off, setting it on the table in front of him, and rolling up his shirt sleeves. "No traces of the demons were left behind in New York. It's as if they never existed. Either S.H.I.E.L.D. did a really good job of cleaning up or something else is going on."

Tony looked at Bruce with a glint of excitement in his eyes. "Well you know what happened the last time we found something fishy with S.H.I.E.L.D."

Bruce stood with his shoulders hunched forwards slightly as he reminisced and leaned against the counter behind him. "I turned into the 'other guy'…" His voice faltered slightly. "…and destroyed the carrier we were on."

Tony rolled his eyes as he tossed his newly finished apple core in the trash can across the room. "Besides that." He walked over to his bag that was sitting on the table next to the window and rummaged through its contents until he found what he was looking for. "What if we did have some remains left over from the attacks?"

"Then we'd be able to analyze it more…find out what these demons were truly made of and what kinds of powers we'd be potentially facing the future. But I don't know how you'd be able to get any samples. The team I worked with, myself included, scanned New York thoroughly."

Tony turned back to Bruce with a devilish smile.

"What did you do?" Bruce asked. His tone suggested that instead of talking to a fully grown man, he was starting to scold a five-year-old boy. At this point, though, he didn't know what else to expect from Tony. He looked for trouble nowadays. It was as if he couldn't live without it.

Tony held up the object he had been searching for and watched as Bruce's face flushed.

"No," he quickly answered. "No, no, no." He walked around the desk to meet Tony in closer proximity. "That's not ours to mess with. How did you even get this?" He took the dog tags from Tony and looked at them with great detail, putting on his glasses. "I swear I saw Steve wearing these while he was running."

"A little magic and some help from Jarvis. It's not like I was stealing an idol from an Indiana Jones movie either. Swapping the two was really too easy." Tony took the tags back from Bruce and brought them to the table and set them down. The powder had moved occasionally on its own while in his possession.

"Do you think that it's part of another demon?" Bruce asked, walking over and standing next to Tony.

Tony sighed. "Part of me is hoping so. Part of me is also hoping for something else."

Bruce nodded in understanding. "We better get started then."

 **Hello my lovelies :)**

 **I'm back! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of our FINAL installment of the Sparrow series. Leave me some feed back and please feel free to give me ideas for the story! :)**

 **With Love,  
sparrowlina**


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